South Stand Catering

[Inspector Lestrade]

37 minutes ago, billyblack said:

On all seriousness why do other clubs bother then?

Dunno need another few pages. Lol 

[james o connor]

56 minutes ago, darra said:

What if as said you pre pull 25 pints and only sell 10?. 15 wasted pints.

For starters you would easily sell that amount . Secondly , any wastage wouldn’t be as much as lost revenue from people who don’t get served or the smart ones who think ‘fornicate that , ill wait till the pub after the game’ 

[TodwickOwl]

Anyone see those photos at Spurs ground after the game? 

 

Thousands stayed behind drinking inside the stadium. 

[Roscoe P. Coltrane]

6 minutes ago, TodwickOwl said:

Anyone see those photos at Spurs ground after the game? 

 

Thousands stayed behind drinking inside the stadium. 

Bars closed at 4 here...

[TodwickOwl]

8 minutes ago, 2roland2 said:

 

Use machines. It works at several other busy venues, you pull them as needed 6 at a time, you can see the queue of the queue is less than 6 don’t use it go back to the hand pull.  

 

This is is the simplest solution in catering and is used across the world nowadays. It’s like we are stuck in 1980. 

 

It would speed service up massively and increase takings and get people buying who wouldn't usually because of the waiting time. 

 

We we need to get with the times. 

 

Simple sales forecasting would work. 

 

If you sold 200 pints at halftime on Saturday - look at the mix of lagers you sold and ready up a similar number through the machines as you said above, wind this up/down depending on expected attendance. 

 

But no - we will pull each one per each order. It's like cooking the burger and chips for each order on the food stands.....ridiculous.  

 

 

[tarn owl]

So i don't eat between 3-5pm because i eat lunch before and tea after. I also drive and park up so i don't buy a beer. But we used to buy a bottle of coke to take up to our seats in the north stand. The queues were slow but manageable, but they move, it isn't the height of efficiency and have seen a lot better organisation at gigs, other football events etc, BUT i've seen worse and i don't think ours is that bad, also i think it has got better organised under Chansiri.

 

But my issue is cost, 1 bottle of 500ml coke, £2.50. I walk down to the ground, pop in a shop and buy 2 bottles for £2. Less than half the price. After paying for a season ticket i can't also afford to pay 100% more for stuff in general, just makes no sense. Charge £1.50 a  bottle, you still make money and i might wait until i am in the ground to buy. But to be honest Pints look fairly sensibly priced and food is ok so mine is probably a niche concern.

 

Overall not that bothered. We are top of the league.

[dumboldowl]

20 hours ago, @owlstalk said:

 

 

And that's fine but this thread is about those who want to spend their money in the club on the stuff that's up for sale at the counters

 

If people wish to avail themselves of the services provided by the club then that is all well and good, but surely it is reasonable to expect an efficient service, and a quality product at fair prices.

[@owlstalk]

Just now, dumboldowl said:

 

If people wish to avail themselves of the services provided by the club then that is all well and good, but surely it is reasonable to expect an efficient service, and a quality product at fair prices.

 

That's the whole point of this thread mate - exactly that

[Highbury Owl]

Food, drink, prices and queues in South stand all trubbish, so I just don't use the catering there any more.

 

Pre-match routine is : sandwich near the Lepping Lanes tram stop, have a drink in the Tap, and sneak a small bottle of water into the stadium. 

  

[the monk]

3 hours ago, darra said:

What if as said you pre pull 25 pints and only sell 10?. 15 wasted pints.

What if you pulled 25 and you needed 30 

[Guest REDAs_biG_piECE]

I feel like I need to give a more detailed example to get through to the Owlstalk experts that can't differentiate between blind criticism and constructive feedback to the club that I love.

 

I buy at least 1, and often 2, cups of tea for me and my pals every game. For the benefit of the Owlstalk experts I do this because I like tea, I'm fully aware I can buy tea cheaper elsewhere or choose to go thirsty for 2 hours but rest assured I'm sound of mind and as a fully grown adult enter into the transaction of my own free will and that is because I'm a supporter of this great club and wish to give them as much as I can. (Hope that's ok for the Owlstalk experts and condescending know it alls) 

 

Anyway moving onto the tea buying experience itself it usually goes something like this. After queuing for anything between 0 and 10 minutes where the maximum number of customers in front is only ever say 5 maximum this is how it usually goes...

 

Me: "2 teas and a coke please"

Staff: "What's that a coffee and a coke?"

Me: "No 2 teas and a coke please"

Staff: Struts off to the other end of the kiosk and comes back "we don't have any coke"

Me: "ok what have you got"

Staff:"err not sure"

Me: "can you have a look please"

Staff: Struts off to the other end of kiosk and comes back "Dr Pepper"

Me: "ok fine"

Staff: struts off to other end of kiosk and returns with Dr Pepper "is that it"

Me: "what about my 2 teas"

Staff: "oh yeah" rummages under counter and produces 2 cups then struts off down the other end of the kiosk to fill with hot water because the hot water filler directly in front of me is not working still (after being like that for at least 9 months) then returns with 2 cups full to the brim with hot water. "That's £7.50 anything else"

Me: "yes how am i supposed to pour my milk in the cup with the water full to the top?"

Staff: "errr" walks off to the sink and pours out half the water and returns with the cups now only 2/3rds full of water. "Is that all?"

Me: having lost the will to live after an average transaction time of 2/3 minutes "yes thanks" pay using my card and then hunt for some milk and a stirrer.

 

All in all a harrowing experience almost every time. This Saturday there were only 4 staff behind the kiosk whereas previously there were at least 6. They had also reduced the queuing points down from 3 to 2 which made matters worse.

 

I have been to grounds up and down the country and ours is by far and away the slowest most frustrating experience I have ever witnessed.

 

 

And don't get me started on chicken nuggets.... 

[Guest REDAs_biG_piECE]

13 hours ago, Vic Flange said:

 

Agree with this wholeheartedly. 

 

And the incompetence extends in to the Wednesday Tap.

There is never enough staff on or not fully trained and the pumps must be the slowest pourers ever.

This culminates in long queues and the club not taking the revenue they ought to.

 

Haven't been in the tap yet this year it's great in there and they really should market it more to drive traffic to it

 

if you didn't know it was there you wouldn't know it was there which sums our in ground income generation up

[Aingarth]

On 11/08/2019 at 15:16, REDAs_biG_piECE said:

 

New season. New hope

 

New staff behind the catering (middle of south stand)

 

They've actually gotten slower and more incompetent. Beyond useless

 

You want to be grateful, try the North stand!

[Guest REDAs_biG_piECE]

4 minutes ago, Andrew Robinson said:

You want to be grateful, try the North stand!

Similar experience ?

[Nero]

North stand beer kiosk near the new demilitarized zone. 2.45 no beer.

You've got one job.

[Guest REDAs_biG_piECE]

22 minutes ago, Peacenocchio said:

North stand beer kiosk near the new demilitarized zone. 2.45 no beer.

You've got one job.

 

They could have cans and bottles stored which have long expiry dates so literally no excuse for not having enough beer

[Aingarth]

28 minutes ago, REDAs_biG_piECE said:

Similar experience ?

From my last chance to compare, South stand is luxury compared with North!

[OWLERTON GHOST]

On 11/08/2019 at 17:06, asteener1867 said:

Matchday experience mate...

You should be met on the turnstile by Delphjon...then Hutch escorts to yer seat , while Bannan asks if you need another f.ookin' cushion

Then as you sit down he whips it away from the seat and passes it to the lady behind .....

Just for authentication of your "snatch day" experience .....

[ameylamps]

Have something to eat before you go and stop using it?

[Tank_owl]

We all want the catering to be bang on in whichever stand we frequent. I go in the North lower half. If you get there before / around 2:30 the queues arent too bad 2-5mins wait max I would guess. Obviously half time is a different matter. Now they have contactless payment they must have an idea what they are selling, ie in terms of pints, bottle, pies etc.

 

When I went to Tramlines this year at some of the bar they had beers already pulled sat at the back of the bar, e.g. Thornbrige and in the VIP area. Now dont get me wrong Id rather have a fresh pint but if it saved 10-15mins in serving time Id be happy with that - provided the beer wasnt totally spoiled which is shouldnt be if they pull a few in the 10mins before half time.

 

The other aspect is the personnel behind the bars in the kiosks, all casual labour. I have noticed a few regulars but some will probably be there as one off. When you think about it, there are only 23+ days a year, hardly a career! One of my daughters did a few stints in the kiosks over a 3months and she said the 2nd time she went they made her a team leader. Now she is probably somebody that should be team leader but I think she was surprised that she was being asked to do that at only her second time there. She also mentioned how many different faces there were each time she went. So, it must be hard for the club and any caterer to manage people without that ongoing commitment. Sounds like excuses but I can see the difficulties the club faces.